Asus ZenFone Max M1 design
The look of Asus ZenFone Max M1 is familiar. It will remind you of ZenFone Max Pro M1. Plastic is mainly used in making the phone. It is available in black and gold colors. Keeping in mind the trend, Max M1 has a big screen of 5.45 inches and it is equipped with 2.5D curved glass. The borders are quite wide which seems right considering the price.
The selfie camera, earpiece and proximity sensor are placed above the display. According to us, the build quality of Asus ZenFone Max M1 is average. The power and volume buttons are on the right side. The SIM tray is placed on the left side.
Asus uses the ‘Max’ branding for its smartphones with big batteries. The same has been seen with Asus Zenfone Max M1. Surprisingly, despite having a big battery, the company has managed to keep the weight of this handset at 150 grams. After looking at the new phone from the back, the difference with ZenFone Max Pro M1 becomes clear. There is a rear camera here. The position of the fingerprint sensor is good, especially considering the size of the phone. The 3.5mm headphone jack is on the top. The micro-USB port is at the bottom. Speaker grills are provided on both sides of it. But the speaker is present only in the right one.
Asus ZenFone Max M1 specifications and software
Asus has used the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor in this handset. This decision is a bit strange, because this is an old chipset that has been part of older smartphones like Moto G5 and Moto G5S. The clock speed of this octa-core processor is 1.4 GHz. In this price range, we have seen processors like MediaTek Helio P22 and P23 which are part of Xiaomi Redmi 6 and Infinix Note 5 respectively.
Asus Zenfone Max M1 has 32 GB storage with 3 GB RAM. If needed, a microSD card of up to 256 GB can be used. The 5.45 inch display has HD + resolution which seems reasonable considering the price. The phone has support for Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, GPS and GLONASS. ZenFone Max M1 is a dual SIM device. It has slots for both nano SIMs. Both SIM slots have support for 4G and VoLTE, but only one SIM can connect to the 4G network at any time. A 4000 mAh battery is provided.
The device comes with ZenUI based on Android Oreo. You will get features like Mobile Manager, Weather, Sound Recorder, File manager and Themes. Apart from this, Instagram, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and some Google apps are pre-installed on the handset.
Asus ZenFone Max M1 performance, camera and battery life
We noticed some lag after the initial setup, but this lag went away after a few hours. We found that the Max M1 was quick to unlock using face recognition and the fingerprint scanner. However, it uses an older processor. This is reflected in the benchmark scores as well. The benchmark scores of the Zenfone Max M1 are lower than other phones in this price range.
We played PUBG on the phone. It ran on the lowest settings. After playing this game for about half an hour, the phone did get heated up, but the situation did not reach uncomfortably.
In our HD video loop test, the ZenFone Max M1 clocked 11 hours and 32 minutes. This is slightly less than the Redmi 6A and Redmi 6. After repeatedly checking WhatsApp accounts, using Google Maps for over an hour, and playing PUBG for about 40 minutes, the phone had a little over 50 percent battery left at the end of the day. This phone has several power saver modes that can help you extend the life of the phone’s battery.
The Max M1 has a 13-megapixel primary camera with F/2.0 aperture. It is equipped with phase detection autofocus. On the front panel, there is an 8-megapixel sensor with F/2.2 aperture. The camera app is the same as other Asus phones.
Tap to see full-sized Asus ZenFone Max M1 camera samples
Daylight photos taken with the Max M1 were good. But the performance dipped in low light. In daylight, the camera locked focus as per our liking. Distant objects lacked detail and sharpness. The Max M1 took some great macro shots. The separation between the subject and the background was good. The HDR mode has to be manually enabled. This mode helps in taking better pictures in bright conditions. HDR shots came out well, but the Max M1 forced us to wait after taking a shot. You will be able to take portrait shots with both the front and rear cameras. But edge detection is below average.
In low light, the Max M1 is not able to capture details. The noise reduction is very aggressive, which results in a filter-like effect. You will be able to record videos up to 1080p with both the cameras of the Max M1. There is no stabilization available, so you will have to keep your hands very steady while recording videos.
Our verdict
Asus has launched two strong phones in the market like Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 and Asus ZenFone 5Z in different price segments. But Asus ZenFone Max M1 does not make as strong a contender. The outdated Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 is quite slow compared to the processor used in other phones in this price range.
Battery life goes in favour of Asus Zenfone Max M1. The huge 4000mAh battery keeps the phone running for about a day and a half without needing to be charged. If battery life is of utmost importance to you, then Max M1 is a good option. Especially during the festive season, where this handset can be purchased at a discount.
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